How Can the Atmospheric Composition and Surface Temperature of Stars Be Determined? Student Conceptions and Teaching at Lower Secondary Level

About This Paper

Understanding student prior knowledge is a prerequisite for effective teaching. This study investigates what secondary school students know (and misunderstand) about how astronomers determine the composition and temperature of stellar atmospheres from spectra. The findings are used to design instructional sequences that address specific misconceptions — for example, the conflation of colour with temperature, or the idea that spectra require a telescope.

Published In

Astronomie + Raumfahrt im Unterricht, 57(5), pp. 28–33, 2020.